The Path to Leadership
by debit13
Summary: How was the tiger pack's hierarchy determined? Read about how actions in their childhood determined the order of leadership. Features Soto, Diego, Oscar, and Zeke plus OCs. Rate and review, please!
1. Disobedience

**Hey guys, I'm back with my second fan-fiction. Cheers to hoping it comes out as good as my first one did. Rate and review please!**

Note: I do not own any of the Ice Age characters, just the added characters, Marie and Tino.

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_**I. Disobedience**_

Blades of grass gently shifted to the left against one another as the winds, while soft, were unrelenting. The contact with foliage caused a frequent crackling, breaking the nightly calm provided by nature. No animal in their right mind would choose to travel in this kind of darkness, granted that they were unprotected.

A pack of six tigers, on the other hand, could threaten, or provoke anything they so chose. This time of night proved to be perfect for using the clear meadows as their playground, and the size of the pack, while a majority of them being cubs, proved to be advantageous in any sort of situation. And while only five of the six tigers were grouped together, the last of them was an large, muscular male, who could petrify anything that moved. Unfortunately for the smaller animals, he was out on his hunt.

And even worse, he was extremely hungry.

The other five tigers resided in the open fields. The mother, Marie, kept an eye out for her mate, as well as anything that moved; anything smaller than her would make a fine snack for her and her children. Three of the other four tigers, all very young, but very active cubs, were combating their urge to eat by sparring with each other. Roughhousing was the only form of entertainment for the cubs at this time of night, and while the exercise was normally encouraged by adults of the pack, Marie wasn't having any of it tonight.

"Enough. Can't you all just sit down for one second? You don't see Oscar wasting his energy." Perhaps the lack of a meal in the day was enough to put her on edge to the point of being downright irritated with any sort of audible yelling or growling, which was common with the four cubs all being males.

"Oscar always sits out. Besides, what good is a tiger who can't eat? If I keep myself busy, I don't have to worry about eating."

"Soto, just because you're older, doesn't mean you get to talk down to me." Soto scowled to his mother's words - he was expected to give nothing but respect to his elders, and even more so, being the most fit and in the best shape to lead his brothers as a group of their own; they were all growing up, and soon, they would have to part ways from their parents.

"You sure aren't the smartest, either."

"Shut your mouth, Diego - before I do it for you; just because you're smaller doesn't mean I won't lay claw on you to punish you."

"Soto! You will do no such thing to your brother. You're lucky that we haven't thrown you out with how poor your behavior is. Zeke over here can't even get a breath of sleep since you drew blood from him. Now he's always on edge about everything and can't even look at his own mother face to face without getting shaky. Be grateful that you still have your father giving you food from his occasional hunts." Marie's threats seemed to be the only way to get through to Soto; his suddenly acquired brash attitude irked everyone in the family, even his own mother who was typically defensive toward his father's abrasive responses when any disrespect was intended had to put her foot down.

"He acts just as bad to me as I do to him, why should I give him the benefit of the doubt?"

"Because I'm your mother, and you will do as I say. Unless, you don't want to have a meal tonight. That, and you won't be included in the big surprise that is planned for all four of you, tomorrow." She grinned, knowing that the boys would stop whatever they were doing, being the nosy group of cubs they were. Oscar, who was sitting fairly close to his mother, stood at attention, while Diego and Soto turned, anxious to pull little bits and pieces in hopes of figuring out exactly what it could be. Zeke slowly inched over toward his mother, overly conscious of how walking, extremely jittery, but for the first time in a while, planted his behind to the floor while remaining fairly calm.

"What kind of _surprise_ you talkin' about?" The sound of Oscar's voice was quite abnormal to hear at this time hour; the usually angry-for-no-reason, anti-social tiger, who was unwilling to play with anyone or take a joke from anything gave his own bit of chat in the form of sarcasm - a not-so-rare occasion when being addressed in the first place.

"You know full well, that..." Being the mother of four children usually resulted in interruption of discussion, or even thought; they were told to mind their manners and wait their turn, even if it wasn't two adults being directly addressed.

"...if we tell you, it wouldn't be a surprise. We get it, ma." A bold move by Diego - being the youngest tiger and proving to comprehend something was one thing, but interrupting your own parents when doing so was essentially a sentence to a claw in the fur as punishment.

"Aw, so you're growing up, now are you." Oscar and Soto glanced at each other in a light disgust; talking back to their mother usually resulted in their father yelling words down their throats, one unpleasant recurring memory after another. There was an obvious favoritism toward the youngest offspring; Diego would get the most verbal praise for the smallest of achievements, and even more of a jealousy trigger for the older siblings, he almost never got into trouble with his mother, even for major slip-ups or faults that would result in scolding. Even Oscar shared a small portion of this resentment, despite his regularly silent being. To top it all off, they were expected to keep their mouths closed, to serve as the pillar of manners to their younger brothers.

"Why does Diego always get away with everything? I can't even blink an eye without getting yelled at." Soto, the oldest of the four, periodically complained about the unfair treatment, feeling like he should serve as the parent figure with his age.

"Ask your father."

"I would if he was here, but obviously, he's too busy failing to catch my meal." The other three cubs stared back at Soto, eyes widened with their eyes peeled back; Marie's stern face transitioned into a sarcastic smile.

"_Your_ meal. Well, maybe I should give _your_ meal to your younger brothers, who don't bad mouth me every one of their living seconds." The father, Tino, slowly crept up behind Soto as he spoke, each individual hair in his thick coat touching his son's, inducing shivers and chills not not only to Soto's body, but the other three cubs as well. The strongest thought in everyone's mind, was Soto's punishment; exactly what it would be, no one could ever know.

"I didn't mean t--"

"Yeah, you never mean to do it, that's always your problem. I would have figured you'd know better, but you never do." Tino raised his front paw, above Soto's head, causing all of the cubs to flinch, but swiftly brought it down to slice another small portion from the doe, an odd occurrence; seeing their father break from punishing his children when they did wrong was far out of his playbook.

"Eat. Tomorrow is a very big day. You know the rules, your mother gets the first helping." Tino extended his paw toward his mate, who affectionately accepted it as she moved up toward her meal.

"W-w-what's h-happening tomorrow?" The one-time serenity contained within Zeke subsided, turning into anxiety, causing him to tremble inordinately. He'd been confined to the tiger den ever since the scar near the center of his face, in between the eyes, had been given by Soto - he couldn't even function normally in a daily routine of exercise involving the light play-fighting amongst the brothers. Tino would pester Zeke about not getting involved with Diego, and how he should let go of the past, but he was beyond traumatized. The cubs were told that it 'builds character and strength', although not all of the family approved of it - Oscar's physical build was a clear indication.

"Well, you four are going to help me do some _work_ tomorrow morning. Diego, come and eat." The four cubs all sighed and pulled their ears back - their days typically consisted of sleeping, migrating, exercising, and then eating, rinsing and repeating each and every day. Marie smiled at the reaction.

It wasn't often where Tino asked for help to do anything, and even when he did, he would confide in Marie to help, although the assistance would always be short-lived regardless of how strenuous the work may be, saying that her lean and attractive build as a beautiful tigress shouldn't be damaged. But, the cubs weren't aware of this because his presence in the day was slim to none, charged with the occupation of gathering enough of a meal for the entire pack to eat and last them through the night.

"You need _our _help? You're so much stronger than we are." Diego was confused knowing that he had never in his life witnessed his father being assisted by anything. In comparison to any other tigers, nothing was stronger was Tino - his unparalleled strength was enough to handle any sort of sane labor, and even some unfathomably difficult tasks where two or more healthy animals would struggle.

"Marie, did you at least let them know that something was happening tomorrow?"

"I told them that it was a surprise, just like you asked."

"Wait. Is your work, our surprise?" Soto spat in disgust, not looking forward to help someone who threatened to take away his meal, even if it was his blood.

"Well, I'll break it to you now so you can stop squirming..." The four younger tigers placed their interest toward their father as he waited to break the surprise.

"...your mother and I, are going to take you on your very first hunt!" Diego jumped up, ears pointed straight to the sky in anticipation of what he would finally get to do; being very fit for his age meant that he would more than likely capture his own meal tomorrow, and from then on, knowing that he wouldn't need to rely on anyone to get his work done. He, like any other tiger, knew that adulthood was obtained by being able to fend for themselves in any situation where they would have needed their adults beforehand. The excitement wasn't evenly spread -- Zeke was still shaking uncontrollably for reasons incomprehensible at the given time, and Oscar had absolutely no emotion at all. With the chance of a lifetime, Soto could finally prove himself as the biggest voice, the biggest member of the pack, in a few hours. But, his narcissistic behavior, like many times before, jumped in front of his priorities.

"Why do you and mom have to tag along with us? Why can't we do it our--" Tino dropped his head to his son with a vicious glare, one so strong that a member of the family could exile themselves upon receiving it.

"Listen here, you ingrate, you've been treating the entire family like a piece of dirt and you should be grateful that I'm giving you the chance to learn how to hunt like a _real_ tiger does. If I don't show you this, you will starve, and I for one, don't want to let a tiger like you go to waste, especially with how strong you seem to be getting on your own. As for the rest of you, go to sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow and I'm only going to explain myself one time - incoherence is not an option."

Zeke and Oscar turned away from Tino and idled themselves to sleep. Diego took a stare at Soto, who had been crushed emotionally. It was beyond pitiful to see another tiger in a state of depression, even more so when the one who brought them there happened to be family. He walked up to Soto and put a paw on his shoulder.

"You have tomorrow to prove yourself." Diego, who had earlier been threatened to receive a scratch in the face by his older brother, went out of his way to ease his mind. He turned back around, and eased himself into the thin grass, near his mother.

_"Hmph. Tomorrow, it is."_ With his father talking down to him as strongly as he did tonight, Soto knew that he had a lot to prove.


	2. Midnight Confusion

**I've been quite side-tracked. Sorry about anyone who was waiting for this chapter, it's extremely short. :(**

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**_**II. Midnight Confusion**_

The robust build of Tino deeply stabbed Soto's mind. He'd been aggressively approached by his father twice before - once for the still visible fight scar running along Zeke's small forehead, which was presumed to be an accident due to a lack of attention by his younger brother, and thus, disregarded as a general action falling into Soto's demeanor. However, the second instance, an implied lack of respect for his mother's well being shown by his unforgiving need to have a larger share of the meal brought home by his father, passed the line. But even then, he'd been forgiven for transgressions.

_"...I'm giving you the chance to learn how to hunt like a __real__ tiger does. If I don't show you this, you will starve..."_

Soto could not help but wonder what message his father was trying to send him. Was he being true to his words, or was there a threat between the lines? Regardless of the situation, there was no reason to push Tino past a breaking point when their first hunt as a family was announced. Even Marie had plans to participate in the hunt, which sent mixed ideas through his mind.

Soto envied his brothers, motionless, savoring every bit of sleep. And while he was more restless than ever, his lack of energy didn't faze him; the night was long and recovery would be easy even with the smallest of breaks, and he was the strongest of the four by a considerable margin. He quietly walked over to Diego and put his paw on the sleeping cub's body with his claws only partially retracted, enough to catch Diego's attention without inducing an audible reaction.

Diego squinted to see his older brother hanging just above him, signaling for them to relocate slightly further away from their Marie and the other sleepers, to avoid any sort of unrest. It wasn't entirely odd to see Soto awake at this time, but to see him approach any living thing without hostility was far from common.

"Now you probably don't see eye to eye with me knowing that I'm not exactly fond of you, but I didn't call you here in the middle of the night to argue." To top it off, Soto knew -- everyone knew, that Diego was the most intelligent out of the four, despite how young he was; his lack of arguing with any living thing was a testament to this.

"Well, what's up?" Diego couldn't help but wonder why he was called away from his slumber.

"Am I the only one who finds it strange that we're _all_ being told to hunt?"

"Being that it was supposed to be a 'surprise', and you're still coming with after what you did...I don't get it."

"Not only that, but Mom is coming too. And why would Zeke or Oscar be allowed to come? Oscar's so out of shape, and who knows what the other one is thinking."

"Well, Zeke wouldn't be so..." Soto almost instantly turned his body toward Diego's, with their eyes meeting each other, perfectly leveled.

"You don't want to finish that sentence, Diego."

Rather than causing more conflict, Diego sat there, and pondered the situation some more. Contrary to Soto's thoughts, he wasn't the only one who was confused about upcoming events. An unannounced hunt? Sure, they hadn't been invited to any previous hunts because they were still "children", but even so, Tino had always given the entire family a heads-up when he was out for his bi-daily hunt, quite possibly for the purpose of motivation for himself -- either bring home a meal or force your entire family to combat hunger.

"Well, it _is_ our very first hunt, Soto."

"But we're the ones capable of a hunt, not Oscar or Zeke. That still doesn't explain why _she's_ coming with."

"Maybe there's more to it being that it's our surprise."

"That's your problem, Diego - you always try to find a positive in everything, even when the negatives are so obvious."

"If you were so sure that something bad is going to happen to us, then why did you wake me up in the first place? I'm going to sleep. Better for the hunt that I'm in good shape because we're not all as strong as you, and if you want to stay the strongest out of us all, you should do the same." Diego, initally enjoying his fairly deep sleep, found himself slowly trailing back toward his mother, groggy and cranky, knowing that his immovable brother only came to him for another one of his immature rants. And as much as Soto wanted to talk, he knew that chat would have to wait for the morning, as waking up Diego once more would only lead to him telling his mother -- the luxuries of favoritism and being the youngest one, such a bother to their older brothers.

_He'll learn. Nothing ever comes without consequences._ With all of the troubles that Soto had gone through, he would definitely be the most suitable to give that kind of advice, even to the earless night sky. Being shunned by his own parents, his meals taken away and given to others, all situations that could drive a naive attitude to insanity; but, he'd never lost his temper in front of his parents when it came to his brothers. Envious, yes. Angry? No need to be - in a few moments, this space would be his to hunt, that is, once he proved to his parents that he wasn't entirely as useless as he seemed.

Soto paced back and forth in the grass. He knew full well that something was amiss, but couldn't put a picture to the problem. He didn't mind that the entire family was going to hunt, and he wouldn't have as much had Diego not verbally indicated that he wanted to prove wrong, but with the thoughts sinking deep into his fur and his brain, what else was there to do? Reality was a distraction.

_Whatever. I know I'm right anyway._ He paused himself mid-thought.

"That's the best part. I'm always right." He turned himself toward the rest of the family, sitting alone, isolated from the rest of them.

"And soon...you'll be mine to lead."

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**Thoughts? Rate and review if you read, please.**


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